HMS Illustrious, or 'Lusty' as it is known by its crew, is the UK's only aircraft carrier in active service. Photo: Getty Images

The 210 metre long, 22,000-tonne Royal Navy vessel is due to be decommissioned in 2014 and replaced by HMS Queen Elizabeth which is hoped to be finished by 2017.Photo: Getty Images

HMS Illustrious can carry up to 22 helicopters including Chinook, Merlin, Sea King, Lynx or Apache as well as several Harrier aircraft. Photo: AFP

Sea Harrier naval jet fighter, reconnaissance and attack aircraft can be seen on the deck. Photo: AFP

Unusual in an era in which most naval and land-based air superiority fighters were large and supersonic, the principal role of the subsonic Sea Harrier was air defence from Royal Navy aircraft carriers. Photo: AFP

British Sea Harrier FA2 fighter jets (foreground) and Sea King helicopters (background) sit on the deck of the aircraft carrier. Photo: AFP

A pilot getting out of his harrier. Photo: AFP

Sea King provided a wide range of services in both the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force, including wartime roles and anti-submarine warfare. Photo: AFP

Equipment is lowered into the hull on HMS Illustrious. Photo: Getty Images

The Naval ship is due to be decommissioned in 2014 and replaced by HMS Queen Elizabeth which is hoped to be finished by 2017. Photo:Getty Images

Intercepting radars can be seen on board HMS Illustrious. Photo: Getty Images

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 10: Sailors of HMS Illustrious work to fold the rotas of a Lynx helicopter HMS Illustrious, which is currently docked in Greenwich on May 10, 2013 in London, England. HMS Illustrious, or 'Lusty' as it is known by its crew of over 600 personnel, is the UK's only aircraft carrier in active service. The 210 metre long, 22,000-tonne Royal Navy vessel is currently docked in London as part of commemorations marking the 'Battle of the Atlantic', which ended on May 8, 1945, having started at the beginning of the Second World War. HMS Illustrious can carry up to 22 helicopters including Chinook, Merlin, Sea King, Lynx or Apache as well as several Harrier aircraft. The Naval ship is due to be decommissioned in 2014 and replaced by HMS Queen Elizabeth which is hoped to be finished by 2017.

Sailors of HMS Illustrious work to fold the rotas of a Lynx helicopter HMS Illustrious. Photo: Getty Images